Moulin Rouge, FF8 Style!
by Aeris Deathscythe
Summary: Instead of the usual Garden Festival Selphie directs a musical! Seiftis and Zelphie! I meant for this to be a humor fic as well, but some things are a little dark. Behold the angst. Chapter 9 is up!
1. Seifer's Punishment

REVISED

Seifer Almasy groaned.

Now this was a punishment that he could do without. After about five months of wandering, he had been excepted back into Balamb Garden to resume his training as a SeeD, much to the annoyance of its commander Squall. But he had done so under the favor of Cid and Matron. Edea was till fond of him, owing to the fact that he had once been like a son to her, and Cid shall we say, was whipped.

But due to all the trouble he had caused they thought it would be a little strange to put him back on the Disciplinary Committee, and so he was now especially liable to get into certain scrapes. He'd only been back a month when he had gotten caught re-entering Balamb close to dawn, not drunk, but certainly not completely sober. This was of course against the rules.

Normally he hardly cared what his punishment was as they were usually detentions where he could catch up on sleep, but this, this was horrible. He was actually taken to Squall this time, instead of just an instructor, and obviously Squall knew exactly what to do.

Instead of the usual Garden Festival, Selphie was putting on a musical.

"There is no freaking way I am going to be in a musical!"

"No other punishment has proven effective, " Squall replied simply. His expression was plain, and only the evil glint in his eyes betrayed just how much pleasure he seemed to be taking out of his new idea. The gunblade specialist hit the intercom button.

"Selphie Tilmitt please report to the Commander's office."

Seifer could only glare at Squall as they silently waited for Selphie. While the two warriors had come to a truce since Seifer's return, by no means were the two on comfortable terms. They completely preferred to just ignore each other at all times. Seifer grudgingly respected Squall's position, but he very much disliked it.

Selphie bounded in several moments later, nearly tripping on her own feet. Seifer would have laughed but he was in no mood. He slumped a little further in his chair, angry. Why in the world was he putting up with this nonsense? He knew why though. He'd come back for a second chance and he was nearly on his way to screwing it up. Seifer gritted his teeth. He'd have to suffer through this.

"Hiya Squall! What's up? I'm kind of in the middle of audition screening." Selphie smiled her thousand watt smile at him and then Seifer, waving.

Squall almost smirked. "That's just it. Seifer is now going to try out for the musical."

Selphie's eyes widened as round as saucers and she stared at them. "What did you do this time, Seifer?" she asked.

Seifer grunted unintelligibly.

"Tee hee! You know what we're doing right? Moulin Rouge? Can you sing?" she asked all in a rush.

Another grunt.

"If he can't, he's got to at least be on stage and help out with stage crew," Squall said.

Selphie nodded happily and saluted. "Yes sir!"

"You're both dismissed," the commander replied with a short nod, and nearly rolled his eyes as the tiny brunette grabbed Seifer's hand and dragged him out his chair and out the door.

A little surprised by her strength and caught off guard, it took him a moment to yank his hand away. He leaned back against the elevator wall and scowled at her bright smile. Selphie had forgiven Seifer-she was just that type of person- but it didn't mean they were friends.

"This is going to be fun!" she cheered. "You'll see, just wait!"

Seifer ignored her.

When they reached the quad, everyone was so busy talking that they didn't notice him, thank Hyne. Seifer kept the stony glare on his face as he took a seat in the back and looked around.

Selphie had moved to the front by a long table. The chicken-wuss and cowboy were there as well. Seifer snorted at the people that were gathered. It was a pretty large group, and he wondered why anyone would want to be in such a piece of crap. A musical about hookers, wasn't it? What a joke.

Glinting gold caught his eye near the front and he saw Quistis Trepe sitting in a seat surrounded by Trepies. He smirked. Quistis been given her license back after she and the others had saved the world, and this stupid musical would be the perfect opportunity to irritate his professor without actually doing anything that could get him into more trouble than he already was.

"Attention everyone! I'm sorry about that! Where did we leave off?" Selphie called out, hopping up and down.

Zell jumped to match her aerial exploits and simultaneously handed her a paper.

"Oh yeah! That's right." Selphie stopped jumping and bellowed, "anyone that is no longer interested in this production, due to time constraints or any other reason, may leave!"

In the back Seifer stood up.

"Not you Seifer!" Selphie yelled, and he sat back down with a sigh and put his feet up on the chair in front of him, arms crossed. A few students look confused by his presence and a couple of girls giggled.

No one was leaving, so Selphie continued. "I want everyone to line up and get a disk with the song you need to learn. Girls come to me, and guys to Zell and Irvine! You better learn it quick cause you have to sing it tomorrow, right after lunch! After you get the disk feel free to leave! Okay, come on up!"

There was a lot of noise and commotion as everyone did as told. There was much excitement over which song they might have to learn. Most of the girls were hoping for Sparkling Diamonds, so they could show off their umm, talents.

Seifer sauntered up slowly to the end of his line, and when he reached Zell and Irvine, the martial artist was unable to do anything but laugh. Soon he was on the floor rolling around. Irvine, with a grin, handed him the disk and tipped his hat to him.

"New punishment, Seifer?" he asked knowingly, and Seifer just narrowed his eyes and stalked away. As he was not paying too much attention to where he was going, he bumped into a very familiar figure, and knocked her to the ground. There was a small clatter as the disk she was holding slipped out of her hand.

From the floor, Quistis looked up at him in annoyance. Seifer bent and with one hand he hoisted her up by the elbow, bringing her to her feet. Unable to miss the opportunity to tease her he also picked up the disk.

He chuckled as he read it. "One Day I'll Fly Away."

Quistis snatched it from his hand as he stood there smirking at her. "Like you should talk. I'd like to hear you sing-" She shot a quick look at his disk, " Your Song."

"My dear instructor, unlike you, this musical thing is a punishment. Besides, it's not like I'll be the one dressing up like a whore." Seifer kept his smirk and then walked away, leaving poor Quisty torn between anger and embarrassment.


	2. Seifer Sings

AN: You know how hard it is to type with a paper cut between your fingers? OOOOOWWW!

It was pretty late at night, but Seifer couldn't sleep. He stared at the disk on his desk. If he didn't learn the song he'd make a fool of himself trying to sing it in front of everyone. If he did learn it he'd make a fool of himself because Seifer Almasy would never sing in a musical. It'd ruin his reputation. _As what? All anyone really knows you for is being the fallen sorceress's knight that tried to kill everyone. _Maybe some reputations should be ruined. 

He continued to stare at the disk. No matter how bad he did at the audition he would have to participate anyway, so why not be the center of attention? Why not try for the lead? He was meant for the spotlight, not for grunt work behind the scenes. Seifer got up from his bed and popped the disk in, putting on the headphones to make sure that even if he wasn't the only one awake, no one heard what he was listening to.

When the song ended Seifer had a small smile on his face that was a cross between a smirk and an evil grin. He could sing this song, piece of cake.

* * *
    
    It was after lunch, and time for the first auditions. The quad stage was set up with a microphone on it for the auditioners, and Selphie announced that they would be calling names in the order of guy girl guy girl to come on up and sing the song that they had learned. They would be singing with a karaoke (AN: Mental brain warp, spelling?) tape. Seifer had once again taken a seat in the back in his usual position. It seemed like he was the only one that wasn't nervous. He pretty much knew that he was good. But he saw someone that seemed to lack his confidence. Instructor Trepe was breathing deeply in and out as Rinoa tried to calm her down. Seifer chuckled. The instructor wasn't as confident as she seemed.

When they started, Seifer had to keep from laughing as Selphie glared at him. Some of the people were just so bad he wondered if they realized they were tone deaf. He watched as a nervous Nida stepped up to the mike and began to sing in a quavering voice. "My gift is my song…" He was pretty quiet given the microphone's power, but towards the end he gained more confidence. Seifer had to admit that he wasn't all that bad, but he was nowhere near as good as he was. Some girl was up next, who wasn't half-bad, and then Seifer burst out laughing at the person who auditioned next. Zell Dincht. He had laughed at Seifer for trying out, now here he was. Zell was actually pretty good, but you could tell he was more of a base. The higher notes seemed to wreak havoc on his vocal chords. 

"Quistis Trepe!" Selphie called out, after the applause was done. Quistis walked self-consciously up onto the stage and stood in front of the mike. Seifer waited as the song began.

Quistis : I follow, the night

Can't stand the light   
When will I begin   
To live again? 

One day I'll fly away   
Leave all this to yesterday   
What more could your love do for me?   
When will love be through with me? 

Why live life from dream to dream?   
And dread the day when dreaming ends 

(Instrumental) 

One day I'll fly away   
Leave all this to yesterday   
Why live life from dream to dream?   
And dread the day when dreaming ends 

One day I'll fly away   
Fly, fly   
Away 

There was a long silence after Quistis finished singing. Then the applause started, along with loud cheering. Seifer nearly swore. She was good. Too good. He knew that no one would have a chance of getting the part after that performance. She would be his Satine. Seifer chuckled. It was too funny. The stiff instructor, the woman who despised him almost as much as Squall did playing a courtesan, and not just any courtesan, his courtesan. So deep in these humorous thoughts he didn't hear his name being called until Selphie screamed it at the top of her lungs. Seifer stood and sauntered up to the mike. The quad was flooded with hushed murmurs as he took the stage with one of his infamous smirks. He heard someone say, " Seifer? Singing? I can't wait to hear this." 

Selphie turned the tape on and Seifer took a deep breath.

Seifer:

My gift is my song (Seifer sang this line with so much volume that the whole quad instantly became quiet and Selphie had Irvine turn down the mike.)
    
    and this one's for you(Seifer is quieter, as is the song at this part)

And you can tell everybody

that this is your song

It maybe quite simple but now that it's done

Hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind (At these lines about half the female population swooned and had to be shaken awake)
    
    That I put down in words, how wonderful life is

Now you're in the world. (Same girls and a few more sigh romantically)

I sat on the roof and I kicked off the moss

Well some of these verses well they, they got me quite cross

But the sun's been kind while I wrote this song

It's for people like you that keep it turned on.

So excuse my forgetting, but these things I do

You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue (Seifer is still heard way above the excited screams)

Anyway the thing is, what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen(More screaming)

And you can tell everybody that this is your song

It may be quite simple but now that it's done

And you can tell everybody this is your song(Everyone is amazed at how awesome his voice is)

It may be quite simple but now that it's done

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind

That I put down in words, how wonderful life is

Now you're in the world.

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind

That I put down in words, how wonderful life is
    
    Now you're in the world

Seifer finished the song to tremendous applause and screams, minus the few girls that promptly fainted with joy and walked off the stage with a satisfied smirk. He saw Quistis in the front row, and he tried to catch her eye-it wasn't a good day unless he could embarrass her at least once- but she was staring straight ahead into space. Oh well. It wasn't really that important. He went back to his seat. No one was allowed to leave until everyone had auditioned, and there was still plenty of people.

Two hours later, Seifer was falling asleep with boredom and several people were getting antsy, when everyone had sung, Selphie got everyone's attention. " Okay, just give us a few minutes while we decide, and then we're going to call the names of the people we want to stay."

Twenty minutes later……

" Okay! Thank you everyone for trying out, but we did have to make some cuts, even though you were all so good." Seifer snorted. Most of them had sucked. " Anyway, just because you haven't been called back doesn't mean we don't want you because there are lots of parts in Moulin Rouge and we need A LOT of people. All right, these people please stay here." Selphie began reading off names and Seifer was not surprised to hear that along with Quistis, Zell, Nida, and a bunch of others, he had been called back. The people who hadn't been called left immensely disappointed, and some girls even burst into tears. Seifer could tell that Selphie felt bad about it, but hey, they sucked. They were each given a new tape, which was a duet between Christian and Satine and told to come back tomorrow at the same time. Seifer was definitely glad to be out of there, but just as he was about to leave, Selphie bombarded him.

" Seifer! That was super duper mega cool! I didn't know you could sing like that!" She looked extremely excited.

" Hmmm. Well nobody asked." Seifer replied, managing to disappear into the gaggle of people that sought to envelop her.

Once he was safely in his room he popped in the disk. The next song, well the next song was going to be where he really gave the others a run for their money. He shook his head, a little confused as to why he was actually getting into this, but figured it was probably because it would be fun to ruin anyone else's chances of getting the lead, and maybe, just maybe, to annoy his dear instructor some more.

AN: WELL. I hope you liked this chapter, cause I can just picture Seifer singing just as good as Ewan, if not better cause I don't think that's possible, and hopefully I haven't made him too out of character. If this seems weird, such as Cid actually letting them do such a show, and Seifer, Zell, and Quistis all trying out, all will be explained. Oh yeah, excuse all the weirdness such as no indenting, the format screwed it up, and hopefully none of the song parts were confusing.


	3. The Duet

AN: Hey all, here's the next chapter. I hope all of you like it. Wow. Seifer is just so hot.

The next set of auditions had come quickly, and Quistis wasn't sure if she was prepared enough. She really wanted to be in the musical, but there were not a lot of female roles, mainly one. And then, just as she thought that she maybe had a chance, Rinoa decided to beg Selphie to let her try out, because now all of a sudden she was interested, and Selphie had agreed, seeing as they needed as many people as they could get. As Rinoa was the daughter of a famous singer, Quistis assumed that she had a beautiful voice to match, and now she would not have a chance of being Quistis. Quistis also found out that Squall was also trying out, due to Rinoa begging him, and Selphie had to give him a chance, seeing as he was not able to make the initial tryout, and he was the commander. Quistis wasn't even sure if Squall could sing, but she did know that nobody could sing as well as Seifer. 

Seifer. If there was one person that she would not want to star opposite her supposing she got the part it was him. She had forgiven him in name, but as for actually forgiving him, she didn't know how. It was hard to forget. She knew that it wasn't his fault-he had been misled and possessed- but still, something told her that it wasn't entirely against his will. He had a lot of anger inside him. She knew that Selphie had forgiven him, for Selphie couldn't hold a grudge, and it wasn't entirely Seifer's fault that Trabia had been destroyed by missiles. It had actually been Zell who accidentally blabbed vital information to Deling that led to the attack, and she seemed to have more than forgiven him. Irvine hadn't really been around Seifer for that long, only as a child, and the possession was a good enough excuse for him. Zell had forgiven him, but he still disliked him immensely, and Squall, he was civil towards him, and whether or not Seifer had received his forgiveness was a question she still did not have the answer to. All that really left out of the orphanage gang besides Rinoa, who was with Squall on the subject, was her. Seifer made her feel inexplicably nervous whenever he was around, whether or not she had her Save the Queen handy. It bothered her that she couldn't understand why she was unable to forgive. Was she that cold-hearted? Then again, Seifer had never actually said the words 'I'm sorry'.

Quistis was pulled out of her reverie when Selphie called Rinoa to the stage. Rinoa would be singing the same piece that all the girls did yesterday. There was much applause when she took the stage and Rinoa smiled winningly then began. Quistis cringed when the first note she sang was wrong, but from there Rinoa did fine. She hit a few wrong notes and was a little shaky, but in general she was okay, but not like her mother. Rinoa took her seat back, to much applause, and then Squall took the stage. As Squall sang, any line that was too high for him he took down a key, making the song sound kind of weird. He was definitely a bass, and a very good one at that. His voice was rather gruff and masculine, something Quistis had more expected from Seifer and not Squall. Seifer's voice, well, was pure magic as far as that was concerned. Quistis decided it was better off not telling him so, or his ego would inflate more than it already was. Quistis pushed the thought from her mind as the next set of auditions began. Selphie read off the pairs of people that would be singing together. Breathing a sigh of relief when her name was called off with Zell's and Seifer was with some brunette SeeD named Darla, she sought out Zell as everyone moved to find their respective partners.

" Hey Quisty, ready to go, or do you want to practice a bit?" Zell asked, for Selphie was giving them twenty minutes to prepare before they called them up to the stage.

" Can we run through it just once?" Quistis asked, her eyes not on Zell but following Seifer as he walked over to the far end of the quad, Darla close on his heels. He didn't look too happy. Zell nodded, and they walked a little ways away from everyone. 

" Hopefully I'll do better today. Yesterday my throat was killing me from screaming at those kids." The day before Zell had tried his skills at teaching, only to have it not work out so well.

" It's a bit easier teaching students who are older." Quistis replied, and Zell scratched his head.

" Maybe, I don't know. I'm usually pretty good with kids." 

" You just have to earn their respect for you as their instructor, not just as a hero." Quistis told him with a smile. " All right, let's begin." And so they sang. Now that Zell's throat was up to job, he managed to hit even the highest notes. He really did have a wide voice range. A little like Seifer's, but it wasn't as rich. It had a different feel to it. They only had to run through the song once, but they decided that they were ready, and returned to their seats. Quistis was immediately ambushed by a couple of Trepies that had made it past the first auditions. She politely thanked them when they complimented her voice, and endured their chatter, and was very thankful when the auditions started. The first couple of groups did not do very well. They had troubles with the rhythms and where to come in, and their voices did not blend, as they should have. Next up were Seifer and Darla. Quistis was glad to hear him sing again, as were several other girls, and she couldn't deny it. Seifer did very well, but Darla screwed up several times, producing aggravated looks from Seifer, and the song was over. Seifer went back to his seat with a smug look on his face, and Darla hurried off to gossip with her friends, who every three seconds looked over at him and giggled. After a few more couples, who actually did pretty well, it was Quistis and Zell's turn. They took the stage, both a little nervous, and Selphie gave them a thumbs up. Quistis wasn't sure how they did, but she did know that they didn't screw up, something she was thankful for. They _did_ receive a lot of clapping, however. 

All that was left was to wait after everyone else auditioned, and wait they did. Then Selphie called for their attention. "Okay! We have one last audition left, where we throw in a bit of acting, because we think we know who and what we want. There were, after all, only about a dozen pairs, and we've heard enough to know who can sing the roles, and now we need to know who can act them. So without further adieu, we need these people to stay, called in pairs, and each of you needs to come up for a script." Quistis and Zell both waited nervously as only ten names were called, five groups. " Squall and Rinoa, Nida and Eliza, Zell and Amia, Robert and Maviel, and Seifer and Quistis." Selphie called off, and there were cries of happiness and disappointment. Zell was pumping the air with his fist, not noticing that the library girl Amia was smiling at him winningly, and the others who had been called were running up to each other grinning as the people that hadn't made the cuts left, their feet dragging on the floor. Quistis stood up and searched through the dispersing crowd, her heart pumping furiously, and her stomach doing little flip-flops. Seifer was still seated in the back, still looking smug, and noticing that he was being watched, turned his head and caught her eye. Quistis froze as he smiled at her. Not a normal smile, but one that was full of amusement. Zell waving a hand in front of her face distracted her.

" Come on Quistis, let's go get our scripts." He said, and grabbing her hand he pulled her over to Selphie. After everyone had their scripts, and were wired with mikes so that they would be able to move around, Selphie immediately started the auditions, no waiting. They were to start from the lines and immediately go into the song. Squall and Rinoa started off first. Rinoa wasn't very good at acting, and Squall was very amusing to watch, he was very good. Since they had learned both of the songs they needed to in the same night, they were able to perform it, although not very well. Once again, Rinoa was not that good, and Squall was a bass. Next were Nida and Eliza. Nida was extremely nervous, but good, and Eliza overacted a bit. Zell was completely believable in the role, but Amia, in Seifer's words, sucked. Robert and Maviel were both okay, but nothing awe-inspiring, and all that was left was- "Seifer Almasy and Quistis Trepe!" Selphie called, and Quistis slowly walked to the stage, her script clutched tightly in her hand, and Seifer a little ways behind her. 

"So instructor, how badly do you want this role?" Seifer asked, once they were on stage. The mikes were not on yet and he whispered it from where he stood behind her, very close behind her. His breath was on her neck, just behind her ear, warm with the scent of mint. She felt his presence directly behind her. She'd never been that close before. Quistis shivered. Suddenly she was very nervous.

" Very much." She replied quietly, abruptly she felt the clip in her hair being taken out and her hair fell to her shoulders.

" Then don't wuss out on this. Do it up." Seifer replied, casually tossing the clip to the floor behind them. Quistis moved to retrieve it and he stepped in her way. " It looks better down, instructor." He said with a smirk. Quistis glared at him and opened her mouth to reply when Selphie said, " Are you guys all set? Irvine is turning on the mikes." Seifer nodded and moved so that he was on Quistis' left. The mikes clicked on and Seifer turned to Quistis, taking a quick look at his script.

(AN: Italics refers to thoughts) 

****

Quistis: (pretends to look shocked)  
**Seifer:** Sorry, I'm sorry...I didn't mean... I saw--I saw your light on. I climbed up the... (Complete change in personality that amazed all)

****

Quistis: What? (confused as Satine and as Quistis) _So, he can act too?_

****

Seifer: I couldn't sleep and...I--I wanted to thank you for helping me get the job. 

****

Quistis: Oh, of course. Yes...Toulouse--Toulouse was right. You are--you're very talented. It's going to be a wonderful show. Anyway I--I better go because we--we both have a big day tomorrow. (Quistis turns, as if to leave) 

****

Seifer: Wait...no, please wait. Before when we were--when we...when you thought I was the Duke and you said that you loved me. And I--I wondered if... 

****

Quistis: If it was just an act? 

****

Seifer: Yes... 

****

Quistis: Of course. 

****

Seifer: Oh. It just felt real... 

****

Quistis: Seifer, I'm a courtesan, I'm paid to make men believe what they want to believe. 

****

Seifer: Yes...silly of me, to think that you could fall in love with someone like me... 

****

Quistis: Oh...I can't fall in love with anyone. 

****

Seifer: Can't fall in love? But a life without love! That's terrible. (A snicker is heard in the audience, being that it is quite humorous to hear Seifer talk like this)

****

Quistis: No, being on the street, that's terrible. 

****

Seifer: No! Love...is like oxygen. Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love! . (Seifer is very convincing, like he believes what he is saying and Quistis finds this amusing.

****

Quistis: (spoken) Please, don't start that again. 

(This is where the song comes in and they both toss their scripts away.)

****

Seifer: All you need is love! ( The girls in the audience sigh)

****

Quistis: (spoken) A girl has got to eat. 

****

Seifer: All you need is love! 

****

Quistis: (spoken) She'll end up on the street! 

****

Seifer: All you need is love... 

****

Quistis: Love is just a game... 

****

Seifer: I was made for loving you baby, you were made for loving me! (At these lines Seifer walks up to Quistis, his arms out, doing sort of a little dance in beat to the rhythm. Quistis is surprised but he winks at her and she decides to play along.)

****

Quistis: The only way of loving me baby is to pay a lovely fee. (Quistis takes one hand and puts in on his chest during this line and does the same walk with him, pushing him backwards. Seifer pretends to fall to his knees and begs.)

****

Seifer: Just one night, give me just one night! 

****

Quistis: There's no way 'cause you can't pay. (Quistis is smiling in amusement as she turns away.)

****

Seifer: In the name of love, one night in the name of love. (Seifer moves so that he is in her way but still on his knees)

****

Quistis: You crazy fool, I won't give into you. (She turns the other way) 

****

Seifer: (Stands slowly) Don't... leave me this way. I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby...don't leave me this way. 

****

Quistis: (turns back to him) You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. 

****

Seifer: I look around me and I see it isn't so, oh no. 

****

Quistis: Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. 

****

Seifer: Well what's wrong with that? I'd like to know, cause here I go again! (Seifer runs over to the platform in the back and amazingly jumps to the top in a matter of seconds. Quistis screams..., playing along) Love lifts us up where we belong! 

****

Quistis: (spoken) Get down, get down! 

****

Seifer: Where eagles fly, on a mountain high! (Seifer throws his arms out as he sings)

****

Quistis: Love makes us act like we are fools. Throw our lives away for one happy day. (Seifer hops down and goes over to her) 

****

Seifer: We can be heroes! Just for one day... (change of music)

****

Quistis: You, you will be mean.  
(Quistis starts to walk away) 

****

Seifer: No I won't! (Seifer chuckles, noticing the irony of the situation, as do a few others, including Selphie, Irvine, and Zell) 

****

Quistis: And I...I'll drink all the time! 

****

Seifer: We should be lovers! (Seifer cuts her off. There are a few giggles in the audience.)

****

Quistis: We can't do that. 

****

Seifer: We should be lovers! And that's a fact. (By now everyone is entranced with the pair)

****

Quistis: Though nothing would keep us together... 

****

Seifer: We could steal time—(Seifer takes her hands and she blushes, then regains her composure)

****

Both: Just for one day. We can be heroes, forever and ever. We can be heroes forever and ever. We can be heroes just because... 

****

Seifer: I...will always love you! 

****

Quistis: I...! 

****

Both: Can't help loving... 

****

Seifer: You... 

****

Quistis: How wonderful life is... 

****

Both: Now you're in the world... (By this time they have been moving closer and closer together with the lines and right now they are practically hugging.)

****

Quistis: (spoken) You're going to be bad for business, I can tell. (Quistis has remembered this line as she looks up into Seifer's eyes, going with the moment. Now at this point, Christian and Satine are supposed to kiss, but no one except for Rinoa and Squall obliged. But Seifer and Quistis continued to stare into each other's eyes past the fading of the music.)

She was still looking up into his eyes, the emerald green piercing her soul, shaking her very essence. She could see the danger in them, producing the fear that he so easily instilled among his classmates and all that he met, and she wanted to look away, but she couldn't. Quistis Trepe prided herself on having no fear-she had faced a sorceress so powerful she nearly destroyed the world, and all manner of monsters along the way, and she was an A-level SeeD-yet staring up into the eyes of Seifer Almasy she had the sudden desire to run away and hide under a blanket. There was something powerful in them that she had no urge to explore, and did not want to face. Quistis Trepe, for the first time in her life, was truly frightened.

Almost as if he sensed her discomfort, Seifer released her and abruptly walked off the stage and left the quad, not heeding the Selphie's calls for him to stay. Quistis just stood there, in shock and confusion. Everything was a blur to her as she stood there, voices drifting in and out her head, until Squall touched her arm.

" I think we need to talk." He said seriously, and pulled her away.

AN: So what did everyone think? Just what exactly does Squall want to talk to her about? Why did Seifer walk out? Dunt dunt dah!!!!!!!! To be continued….. REVIEW!!!!!!


	4. Hey, I thought this was a Seiftis?

AN: I noticed that during the lines and duet during the third chapter that Quistis said Seifer and not Christian during a line, and that was just a typo. Oops. What I had done was copied and pasted part of the script over and replaced Christian with Seifer and Satine with Quistis, and I guess I missed that line while proofreading. Oops. Well, pretend she said Christian. Oh year, as per usual, I try to nullify swearing and sexual content to keep the rating down so that everyone can read. And if any of you youngsters know the missing letter(s) in the bad words, well good for you. 

Quistis was expecting Squall to say something serious, something important, but when he did tell her what was up, after bringing her to a secluded section of the quad, she started to laugh. It was about not getting romantically involved with Seifer, supposing they got the leads, which Squall said, was very likely. The musical _was_ a romance after all, and there might be times when it would be easy for her to fall in with the fantasy. 

" Suppose I do," Quistis chuckled, one hand on her stomach, " fall in love with Almasy, what would be the problem, besides needing to give me immediate mental medical attention?"

Squall looked slightly put out. " A student/teacher relationship goes against Garden rules, and seeing as the next SeeD test is a month away, even considering if he does indeed pass, you would both be subject to disciplinary action. I think that it would be best if I had Seifer switched under another instructor."

Quistis crossed her arms and gave him a look. "Squall, do you really expect me to get romantically involved with one of my students?" Squall raised an eyebrow and Quistis hastily corrected herself. " Involved with Seifer Almasy? Just think about the logic in that."

"Well, when the two of you were one stage it seemed like…" Squall trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

" Seemed like what? We were _acting_, Squall. I am not a courtesan and Seifer is not sweet, singing poet."

"Whatever." He and Quistis said at the same time. Squall sighed and Quistis chuckled again. "The musical also contains scenes in which the two leads need to get relatively close, and to put a stop to the rumors before they've even begun it would be best if Seifer wasn't one of your students." Squall continued.

" Wouldn't that add to the rumors, if there are even are any? Commander Leonhart separating student from teacher for unknown reasons? In case you haven't noticed, Garden students have pretty active imaginations. In my opinion, it would be best to leave things alone. Besides, you don't even know if we even _have_ the parts. And if we do, whatever contact we have will be strictly business. We will not provide a reason for anyone to get suspicious." Quistis paused, and a teasing smile came across her face. " At least, until he makes SeeD." She added with a wink.

" Very well. But at the first sign of trouble I'm putting him under another instructor." Squall sighed once more. "Just don't say I didn't warn you." He said finally. Quistis was about to reply when Selphie and Rinoa came running up to them, closely followed by Zell and Irvine.

"Woohoo! Finished! I want to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate, and that means the whole gang has to come!" Selphie announced, and Rinoa took Squall's arm, beaming. Irvine adjusted his hat with a grin and Zell began to shadow box. " So are you guys coming?!" She asked Quistis and Squall. Quistis nodded, and Squall reluctantly agreed when Rinoa kissed his cheek and whispered something in his ear. "Great! We'll meet at the entrance in twenty minutes, okay? Nothing fancy, cause stingy Squall won't let us take a car so we have to walk to Balamb." She said, then abruptly ran off. Rinoa giggled. Squall always refused to let them borrow the cars in the garage for entertainment purposes, just in case there was an emergency, and the Ragnorak was simply out of the question. Quistis took the opportunity to sneak off to her dorm room, and out of her conversation with Squall. Her with Seifer? Never.

* * *

The restaurant they chose was a small pizza place on the outskirts of the city of Balamb. It was nothing fancy, but it had good food at an inexpensive price-not that with their hefty SeeD paychecks they couldn't afford it- but just because they had money didn't mean they were going to throw it like it grew on trees. They all say comfortably in the six-seater booth, Quistis between Rinoa and Irvine, across from Selphie, who was between Squall and Zell.

It was nice being able to slow down for once and enjoy life with her friends, but at the same time it felt like she couldn't really get comfortable with them. It was tough shedding her strict instructor exterior (AN: Say that three times fast.). Quistis became increasingly uneasy when the topic switched to a guy that Selphie thought Quistis should date. His name was Jake and he was an A-level SeeD and twenty-one years old. Quistis knew who he was, and knew that he wanted to go out with her, but he didn't seem to be her type. She didn't know what her type even was. And, he had dark hair; she liked lighter complexions. Granted, she had had feelings for Squall, but that was different.

" I'm telling you, he's really nice, and he's got the cutest smile." Selphie continued.

" I'm just not interested Selphie, thanks any way." That was straight and to the point, but Selphie persisted until Zell said, "Just leave her be, Selph. As soon as she finds a guy she likes I'm sure she'll let you plan the wedding." Quistis sent Zell a grateful look as Selphie quieted down; looking first abashed and then pleased. The rest of the dinner went a lot smoother, and soon it was time to head back. Zell of course left with a slice of pizza in each hand. They made it back just before curfew, not that it would have mattered seeing as they were SeeDs and that did not apply to them any longer, but still, the only place they could have gone was the training center, so it really didn't matter. Back in her dorm, Quistis grabbed her Save the Queen, deciding to quell her restless for the results of the tryouts with a fight or two at the training center. She heard the fight before she saw it, the sound of gunshots filling her ears, and she half-expected, half-hoped it would be from the owner of a gun-blade. She would tell him…. tell him what? I'm sorry you scare the living h*ll out of me? But she knew that it wasn't a gun-blade shot, just a regular gun. 

Quistis stepped into the clearing and watched as a young man who looked a year or two older than herself faced off with a T-rexaur. He obviously had powerful magic junctioned to his attack because the monster fell to the ground within the next couple of turns. Quistis was curious to see who this SeeD was, she knew he was a SeeD because he was in uniform, and so walked up to him, wondering why she'd never seen him before.

His hair was sandy blond in color, and he had brown eyes, and interesting combination, and just as Quistis opened her mouth to introduce herself he said, "Quistis Trepe, right? I've heard about you. You're one of the ones who defeated Ultimecia. I'm Tom, Tom Etsing. It's nice to finally meet you. " He held out his hand and Quistis shook it.

"Are you a transfer? I don't think I've ever seen you before." Tom smiled at her, and Quistis noticed that he was very cute when he smiled.

" Fresh from Galbadia today. I thought I'd check out your training center while I got the chance. The toughest thing here seems to be the T-rexaurs."

Quistis nodded, also smiling. "Yes. I'm afraid we don't have much variety here, but then again we can't have anything too dangerous or there would be student fatalities left and right." As if on cue, a girl screamed and with one quick look at each other, Tom and Quistis ran off in the direction it had come from. They came upon the scene right outside the secret area. A young teenage girl was lying on the ground, at the mercy of an unusually large big T. But before Tom and Quistis could reach her, someone else ran from the opposite side and got to her first.

* * *

Seifer stood in front of the T, Hyperion in his hand. When he had heard the scream he had had a quick battle in his head over whether or not he should go help out, and the supposedly new, changed Seifer won out with an ease that surprised him. And after all, he was a knight, and ex-knight maybe, but he was still inclined to help out the maiden in distress. Seifer snorted as the T lunged at him and missed. Maiden in distress? Who was he kidding? He never cared. He swung his gun-blade and pulled the trigger as it connected with hard flesh. The T howled in pain as the bullet ripped through him, producing 9999 damage. Seifer allowed a slight smile to play across his face. He was a lot stronger than he let any one know.

* *

Quistis had always known that watching a gun-blader fight was like poetry in motion, but watching Seifer she realized it was much more than that. As his first attack connected it suddenly hit her that her student had been hiding his true strength. The fact made her a little angry, and if it was possible, a little more frightened than she already was.

"Should we go help him?" Tom asked, and at the sound of his voice Seifer looked up sharply and swore when he saw that he was not alone. The distraction did not ruin his concentration however and he continued to slash and hack away at the T, while the girl on the ground sat up and watched in fear and awe.

"No need. That's Seifer Almasy." Quistis replied, as if that would explain everything.

" The sorceress's knight? That Seifer Almasy?" Tom looked fairly surprised.

" The one and the only. He can hold his own." And more than that, she thought. Abruptly the T roared and collapsed, his weight shaking the ground. Seifer calmly wiped his sword on the grass then moved over to the girl, said something Quistis couldn't hear, then tossed her a small object. After a moment the girl got up and ran in their direction as Seifer disappeared back to where he had come from. Quistis recognized her as Lila, one of her younger students and a Trepie.

" Instructor Trepe!" Lila exclaimed in surprise, stopping short in front of her.

" What happened?" She asked, and the girl looked at the ground, scuffing her foot.

" I um…I came here to train…I thought I'd be okay alone…but I guess I wasn't." Lila began to idly play with her whip.

" You should have known better, Lila. You could have been killed. You're lucky that Seifer was there." Students just never seemed to learn.

" That was pretty heroic of him, don't ya think?" Lila replied, sighing dreamily. She held up an empty container. " He even gave me a potion."

Quistis blinked in surprise. First he rescues her and then he gives her a potion? Strange. "What did he say to you?"

" The same thing you said to me, only in fewer words." The girl paused in thought. " Do you think it's too late to change weapons? The gun-blade sure is cool." Quistis smiled, highly amused. Seifer wouldn't be too pleased about gaining a fan club.

" I think it is a little too late for that." Quistis replied. " I think you should head back to your room and get some rest though. And next time, bring someone with you when you come here." Lila nodded, and with a smile, took off, yelling her thanks. Quistis shook her head, and was startled to hear Tom laugh beside her.

"Never thought that Seifer would have hordes of adoring fans." Tom paused. " He must have changed since Ultimecia." 

" Not so much changed, but a lot has happened." But even still, Quistis couldn't help but wonder. It wasn't everyday that Seifer saved someone's life and handed out potions. In fact it was never.

" So, Instructor Trepe, would you like to do some training with me?" Tom asked after a moment, sending her a winning smile.

" I don't know. It didn't look like you needed my help before." Quistis smiled; she was beginning to like this man. He seemed very friendly, but not overly pushy, and he was cute.

" For the company, then?" He said, and Quistis readily agreed. 

The next hour or so was spent fighting grats and T's. Quistis learned that he was only a level ten SeeD, but his rank had been steadily increasing since he became a SeeD a few months ago, and like Irvine, he was skilled with sniper rifles. She found him to be very sweet and easy to talk to, and accepted almost at once when he invited her to dinner that weekend, just four days away. He would have made it sooner, but Cid, to test how good of a SeeD he really was, had already assigned him a mission. He had mentioned something about Galbadia not being very strict when it came to the SeeD tests, so the mission was just a check on how capable he was as a SeeD. When they came to part that night, after walking her to her door, he took her hand and kissed it, and wished her good night. Alone in her room she was unable to keep the grin off her face as she called Selphie to tell her all about it. 

AN: So…..you thought this was a Quiefer, did you? Hehe, just kidding, it really is, so wait for it, it's coming.


	5. Seifer's Secret

AN: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! There's going to be a few things in Seifer's memory that conflicts with what has been said in previous chapters, so be warned. But all will be explained. I changed it from a humor story to drama, but still with the romance, because where I want to take this will certainly not be humorous. Dunt dunt dah!!!!!! Oh yeah, I haven't said anything about Fujin and Rajin, but never fear, they're at Garden too. Oh yeah, I believe I heard someone go on a rant about 'smirked' not being a verb, but if there can be 'smiled' from 'smile' why not 'smirked' from 'smirk'? Besides, spell check isn't complaining, so lalalalalalala!

Seifer woke up to the ringing of telephone. Grumbling in annoyance he reached over and answered it with a grumpy, "What!"

"I've been trying to get a hold of you forever, Seifer, you're not easy to find." Selphie's voice answered him, sounding very cheery though it was-Seifer looked at the clock- " It's five in the morning Tilmitt, what do you want?!"

" You left kind of in a hurry yesterday, and I wanted to let you know that the results for the auditions will be posted after breakfast today outside the cafeteria." 

" Is that it? I would have found that out eventually." He should hang up right now. He was about to when he heard some muffled arguing in the phone, which sounded like puberty-boy, when Selphie continued. " Actually that's not all." And Seifer heard a distinctive 'give me the phone', courtesy of Squall. "Squall wants you in his office in an hour. It's something about your training. I don't know. But good morning!" Selphie finished, and Seifer could tell that the phone had been taken away from her as the sound of her voice grew distant.

" Seifer." Squall said, by way of a greeting. Seifer rolled his eyes.

" What's with the wake-up call?" 

" I had a rather interesting conversation with Quistis this morning."

_What time did these people get up?_ "You're point being?"

" She says that you've been holding out on us."

Seifer inwardly groaned. " I should have known the instructor would tattle."

Squall ignored that. " You are to report to my office in an hour. You might also want to grab something to eat before coming." 

"Great. Is that it?" 

" Yes."

_Click._ Seifer hung up the phone. Breakfast was at seven, and his meeting was at six. Whatever was going on, Seifer wouldn't be back in time. His mind wandered back to the night before. He hadn't held back in his fight with the T, figuring that the girl wouldn't know the difference between level thirty and level fifty-only a trained eye would pick up on that-but what he hadn't counted on was Quistis and Etsing. Etsing. He thought he had killed that guy, and now he was a SeeD, apparently. Seifer shook off the bad memories and got ready for the day. 

On his way to the cafeteria he was not surprised to see that there was barely anyone in the halls. The only people to actually get up this early were the commander and his friends, apparently. Seifer stopped in the cafeteria and grabbed a cinnamon roll. The lunch ladies looked a little shocked to see him up an about at this time, but didn't say anything. Seifer was soon at Squall' office.

" Seifer." Was this how Squall started every discussion? 

" Squall." 

" Quistis said that she saw you in the training center, and that you are a lot stronger than you have let on." Straight and to the point. 

"And?"

" Whether or not this discussion goes well decides your fate as a SeeD." Now that caught his attention.

" Care to explain?"

" Just a few questions. If you answer them truthfully I might consider moving your SeeD test up."

" What's the catch?"

" No catch. If we allowed you to go on your test with students who were not as experienced it would put their lives in danger."

" All right, so shoot."

" First off, what level are you currently at?"

" Fifty-three."

" You scored at 9999 damage hit at only level fifty-three?" Squall looked incredulous.

Seifer shrugged. " What can I say, I'm good like that."

" And how did you achieve this level?" Squall continued, frowning.

" Through training."

" Seifer, you know as well as I that there is no way you could have achieved that level by only fighting T-rexaurs and Grats. How? This is for your benefit, you know."

Seifer sighed. " Those nights when I got caught entering Garden close to morning, seemingly having partied all night. I went out a lot more than that; I just chose those times to get caught. I wasn't sure if there'd be a time when my luck would run out and I'd get caught with blood on my hands. There'd be no suspicious instructors sticking their noses where they didn't belong."

Squalls eyes widened in surprise. " You were training?"

" Except for the other day. I decided to have some fun."

It was Squalls turn to sigh. " And what made you decide to do this extra bit of practice?"

" I figured that the next time I went for my SeeD exam I'd have an easier time. The instructor wouldn't be able to fail me if I, shall we say, kicked a$$. She's very biased when it comes to me."

" Maybe if you didn't give her such a hard time…"

" Hey, if she can't take it that's her problem."

" Anyway, didn't you realize that your increased level would endanger your team's lives? Most of the students are at level nine, the highest."

" That's why I didn't go any further. But then again, if they're at the test it must mean something. And besides, I wouldn't have let them get hurt."

Squall took a moment to think this through. Seifer, defending someone? It was hard to imagine. " The SeeD test isn't just about strength, Seifer. It's about following orders and making good decisions."

" Yeah, but what's the harm in a few bonus points?"

" There's got to be more to it than that."

" Well there is the fact that once I've reached your level I'd be able to kick your a$$. That's enough to inspire anybody." Seifer smirked and Squall gave him one of his patented looks. After a moments pause Squall turned on the intercom at his desk and said, " Would Quistis Trepe and Selphie Tilmitt please report to my office. Repeat, Quistis Trepe and Selphie Tilmitt to my office." Seifer lifted an eyebrow as Squall turned it back off.

" President Loire of Esthar contacted us early this morning with a report of increased monster activity. I'm sure you know that the monsters from Esthar are not to be taken lightly, and there's a particularly violent Marlboro that has been causing trouble close to it's gates. Selphie and Quistis are already aware of the situation, but they don't know that I will be sending you with them as part of your SeeD test." Seifer was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected this. Squall continued. " I could have sent someone else with you, but Selphie has been bothering me about visiting Laguna, and besides Zell she's the only one that can pilot the Ragnorak," Here Squall paused, as Seifer thought, _thank Hyne for small favors_, " and Quistis is your instructor." Seifer also thought it funny that Squall was still unable to call Laguna 'father'.

" You will also-." Squall was interrupted as Selphie bounced in, followed by Quistis.

Quistis glanced over at Seifer in confusion and he sent her back a scowl. Selphie was smiling happily, however. " What's going on?" Quistis asked, and Squall motioned for them to take a seat. 

" I've decided that as part of his SeeD test, Seifer will accompany you to Esthar as captain of the team." 

Selphie stopped smiling, Quistis' mouth fell open, and Seifer could only stare. Captain? He hadn't mentioned that. " You're not serious, are you Squall?" Selphie asked, her voice soft, incredulous, voicing Seifer's thoughts. " I mean, I have nothing against him, but Esthar? From what you said it sounds dangerous, and no offense Seifer, but unless you've greatly improved since the last time we fought you, then…"

" He's currently at level fifty-three, Selphie, not twenty, like he's let us all believe."

Selphies mouth formed a round little 'o' before smiling. " Oh, okay, well fine then. I guess it's better than sending him with the other students and having them get killed."

" Quistis? What are your thoughts?" Squall asked suddenly, after nodding at Selphie. The other two turned to her as well for her response, but none came. She was busy in her own head. Seifer, at level fifty-three? That would explain his strength, up to a point, but doing damage like he had at that level? She dreaded what he'd be like when he was at maximum.

" Speechless with joy, I see." She heard Seifer say, and snapped back into reality, Squall's office.

" Very well." She looked at her watch. " We leave now, correct?" Squall blinked, he'd expected an argument, as Selphie grinned, and Seifer chuckled.

" Yes. Take the Ragnorak, of course. Laguna will be expecting you. I don't think this mission will be very long, so you should be back tomorrow. He'll update you if there is anything new and give you the details of your mission. Quistis, this is part of Seifer's test, and I expect you to give me an unbiased review. Selphie, you are to support them, and Seifer, follow orders and don't pull anything." Squall finished, and as he said nothing else, Seifer figured the meeting was over. He stood and gave him a cocky salute with another of his smirks. 

" Will do, commander." He said, and was pleased when Squall scowled at the title. Quistis and Selphie saluted as well, out of habit, and then followed him out the door.

* * *

The ride to Esthar took only a little more than fifteen minutes, with the way Selphie drove, and Quistis took the time to quiet her mind. Opening her eyes at the sound of footsteps, she saw that Seifer was now seated, clutching the arm, a little green in the face. She held back a giggle, then flushed when he caught her staring. Staring? She wasn't staring.

" Go ahead, laugh it up." He bit out, annoyed.

" Well, the green does match your eyes." Quistis remarked with a smile.

" I'd like to think that my eyes are not the color of vomit or the like, Instructor." Seifer replied, and before Quistis could say anything else Seifer jumped up from his seat and ran from the room, one hand over his mouth. Quistis couldn't hold it any longer, she laughed, and then felt immediately guilty for laughing at his misfortune. Guilty? Why should she be? Quistis shook her head. She was as confused as ever. A moment later Seifer was back, looking refreshed, and Quistis looked away as he scowled at her. She sighed. Esthar couldn't come sooner.

* * *

Arriving in Esthar, they were greeted personally by its president. Laguna enveloped both Selphie and Quistis in hugs with a handshake for Seifer. Quistis felt more than a little uncomfortable, but Selphie made up for it in her hug. If Quistis didn't know any better she'd say that Selphie still had a crush on him. Kiros and Ward were also there to greet them, but not as exuberantly. Laguna explained the situation. There were certain parts of Esthar that had been infested with monsters, and he had hired SeeD to dispatch them, as well as the deadly Marlboro at the front gate leading to the plains. The job would be cake work.

They got started right away, one area after another. Laguna had supplied them with a vehicle and a map of the quickest routes to each location. Seifer was very polite, and listened with more attention than he would have liked as he was given the orders to retreat if necessary, and to rescue any civilians who got caught in the crossfire. The lives of the people of Esthar were worth more than the death of a monster. 

Quistis had to admit, as they killed creature after creature, that Seifer was good. Not only did he know when to attack, but also he knew when to stop and heal. He didn't drag them into battles one after another, but gave them a few minutes to breathe. Constantly Quistis felt herself being healed before she even realized how low her health was, and Selphie whispered to her once as they were walking that she thought Seifer was being very gentlemanly. Seifer, a gentlemen? Quistis had snorted unbecomingly and Seifer had turned back to give them a funny look, but hadn't said anything. He'd been surprisingly quiet, and hadn't argued with Quistis once.

The real test presented itself when they came face to face with the boss Marlboro. They were ambushed immediately, as when they arrived at the entrance there was nothing there. It had come up behind them, and dimly Quistis heard Seifer swear as it let out Bad Breath. Quistis got off easy, as she had 100 pains junctioned to her status defense, but Seifer immediately started off with a frenzy of attacks, shimmering red with berserk. Sometimes, Quistis wondered if casting berserk really helped the Marlboro; each of Seifer's attacks was doing 9999. Quickly she remedied him, and as he looked over at her in confusion (not the spell) she said, " Don't look so surprised, you're part of the team." And then she turned her attention to Selphie, who was currently asleep. Before she got the chance though, Seifer cast Esuna and Selphie was ready for action. 

They were all ready for their limit breaks. Seifer unleashed Fire Cross, and Quistis could only gaze in shock as he exceeded the 9999 limit. Selphie looked over at her expectantly. She wouldn't cast her full-cure slot until Quistis had used her limit break. Quistis let forth laser eye, and then felt the healing powers of Selphie's spell. The Marlboro was not happy and began a barrage of physical attacks with its poison-tipped tentacles. Most were easily dodged, but a few connected and Quistis was losing life force fast, and she knew the others were having the same problems as Seifer cursed several times and Selphie cried out in pain. Then, just as Quistis jumped away from one tentacle, another came flying at her and she could only block. She waited for the pain and sickness, possibly death, but nothing came. Opening her eyes she saw Seifer standing over her, his face a mixture of pain and aggravation, and as he turned away from her to continue the fight, he faltered as another tentacle connected with him. Immediately his legs gave out and he collapsed, hitting the ground with an echoing thud. 

Quickly she threw him a phoenix down, and Seifer was on his feet once more, just in time to see Selphie use The End. The Marlboro was then carried to a field of flowers and put to rest. That was kind of anti-climatic, but considering their HP was down to the last thousand on each of them, and they were poisoned to bat, it was a welcome ending. Without thought Seifer tossed them both an antidote, taking one for himself, and Selphie and Quistis were left to do the curing.

Back in the car, while Selphie drove, Quistis and Seifer took it easy in the cushioned seats. Then, just as Quistis was closing her eyes, Seifer asked, " So Instructor, how did I do?"

Quistis looked at him. Sometimes she found that smirk d**n annoying. Sometimes? All the time. "Surprisingly well, Mr. Almasy. But I don't need to tell you that, do I?" 

Seifer chuckled. " Getting a compliment from you is like pulling teeth."

" Just being in the same room with you, I feel like I've had several teeth extracted already." Quistis replied icily. 

" I think it's my presence that gives you the high. Getting a little hot and bothered, instructor?" The words that were coming from his mouth, there was no chance of stopping them.

Quistis didn't let him get to her. " I think it's the laughing gas that's keeping me from throwing you out of the car, Almasy." She told him coolly, and what Seifer did next shocked her more than anything he could say; Seifer grinned. It wasn't a smirk, or a chuckle related to one, it was just a happy, amused grin. He was sitting across from her, and so she had a direct view of the way his eyes sparkled, and the way the dimple in his left cheek decorated the grin that framed two rows of straight white teeth. _Hyne, he's handsome. _Quistis jolted at the thought. His appearance had never really occurred to her before. Sure, she had noticed how good looking he was, but his arrogant nature and cocky attitude, and that d**n smirk, was enough to rid her of any thoughts connecting her female awareness to the name of Seifer Almasy. 

" I know I'm hot, instructor, but it's rude to stare." Seifer said, and immediately she flushed. Did he know what she had been thinking? No, it was just his ego talking. 

" I'm just trying to figure out what it is I'm looking at." Quistis mentally smacked herself in the head. How childish was _that_ comment? With an aggravated sigh she looked away and out the window as he chuckled in amusement and Selphie said; " Now now children, don't make me turn this car around."

" I'll be good mommy." Seifer replied, his pitch heightening to imitate a little kid.

" That's a good boy, Seifer. Now if you two can be nice to each other for the rest of the day I'll buy you guys ice cream when we get back home." Selphie said with a giggle.

" I'll hold you to that Selphie." Seifer replied, his normal rich tone returning.

" Only if you pay for dinner!" Selphie answered, turning her head to give him a quick smile before focusing on the road once more. Seifer shook his head. Sure, her constant happiness was annoying, but she really wasn't all that bad. He glanced at Quistis who was still staring out the window, arms crossed, her eyes hard. He wondered what she was thinking…probably cursing him in her head. 

She felt his eyes on her and turned to glare at him. " What are you doing?"

" Trying to figure out what it is I'm looking at." Seifer deadpanned, and with what sounded like a growl she looked back out the window. Seifer chuckled. 

AN: Oh yeah, if I'm screwed up on Seifer's stats it's cause my strategy guide has gone AWOL and I am too lazy to look it up, but we're gonna pretend that those stats were wrong because Seifer hid his true power throughout the game. evil laughter. Oh yeah, at the end of the next chapter I'm gonna give you guys an example of my original works. That stuff doesn't get much reviews here, but I want to see what people who don't know me think about it, so please tell me when the time comes. Oh yeah, I can't remember if a Marlboro's bad-breath causes berserk, but bear with me, just use your imagination. Once again, strategy guide AWOL, and unable to get to my PS2.


	6. Romantic Dream

AN: Hey all, thanks for the reviews! It means a lot to know I'm loved! Hehe just kidding. Anyway, here's where I plead for you guys to read my other stuff. I have one called Human Gaurdian Forces which is also a Seiftis and a Zelphie, and a bunch of others, so please R&R! Oh yeah, as to the comments of where'd the play go in this fic, I just needed a chapter for some other stuff to happen, but don't worry, it hasn't been forgotten, just read this chapter!

Laguna had thanked them profusely and then had invited them to one of Esthar's finest restaurants for dinner before they turned in for the night in the rooms he had supplied them with. Quistis and Selphie were supplied with dresses, and Seifer a tux. Selphie was already ready, in a short sparkly green dress, and she had gone to Seifer's room and dragged him with her to Quistis' and proceeded to knock on her door.

"Quisty, I know you're in there! Come out already!" Selphie called, pounding on the door excitedly. Seifer hung back, leaning against the wall. He hated suits. He hadn't planned on excepting the invitation, but Selphie had kicked him in the shin and threatened to go into his room that night and paint pictures on his gun-blade with lipstick. The brat.

" Umm, it's just that…" Quistis' voice reached her, sounding a little unsure.

" Just what?" Selphie questioned, and she was answered by a " Never mind." And the opening of her door. Quistis stepped out wearing a long sparkly crimson dress with a slit up one leg to her thigh, sporting a moderately low cut top, and spaghetti straps. Her hair was in the same style, but had been curled to achieve a level of waviness, and her lips possessed the same color as her dress

After controlling his surprise, Seifer let out a low whistle, which he thought would annoy her, but Quistis just looked up at him, the distance was a few inches shorter now, and smiled slyly. " You don't look so bad yourself, Almasy." And with that said, she and the giggling Selphie walked down the hall, leaving Seifer to shake his head and follow, slipping on his familiar gray coat.

The restaurant was very fancy, and the food was great, and as they started on desert Laguna said, "So what have all of you been up to lately?"

Selphie abruptly dropped her fork on her plate and looked up, ashen-faced. " Don't tell me you'd forgotten." Seifer said, looking amused, as Quistis and Laguna looked at them with confusion written all over their faces.

" The musical!" Selphie exclaimed in response, " Why didn't you remind me?!" She scolded, smacking Seifer's shoulder. He allowed her a smile that was a cross between a smirk and, well, a smile. At once Quistis asked, " Did I get a part?"

" Instead of the Garden Festival, Selphie chose to put on the musical Moulin Rouge. The cast list was supposed to have been put up this morning." Seifer explained to the still clueless Laguna, who nodded in understanding.

" Did you get a part?!" Selphie repeated incredulously. " You're Satine!" She squealed happily, and Quistis looked like she was going to faint. But Selphie was already moving on. " And Seifer, you're gonna be Christian!" She announced, clapping her hands together, and then, " I can't believe I forgot!" She pouted.

He was Christian? He'd already known that. Quistis was Satine? He'd known that too. Seifer turned to Quistis, who looked up at him, dazed. " Well, instructor, it looks like you'll get the chance to cuddle up to me after all." He said, and before she could reply Laguna interrupted.

" You're gonna be in a musical, Seifer?" He looked like he was about to laugh his head off. Seifer was beginning to wonder if he wasn't Chicken-wuss's father instead.

" A punishment for breaking several of Garden's rules." Seifer told him, a dark look passing over his golden features.

" I bet it was Squall who assigned that one, right?" Laguna continued, laughing at Seifer's expense.

" At least I hadn't agreed to it willingly. Puberty-boy tried out by his own free will." Seifer replied, allowing himself the jibe. Under the table, Selphie kicked his shin, hard.

"What?" Laguna asked. He really hadn't heard him. But Seifer didn't get a chance to repeat it because Selphie suddenly stood up and grabbed his hand. 

"Come on Seifer, let's dance." She said, and when he only glared at her, and her efforts to pull him up were in vain, she said two words. " Hyperion, lipstick." Quistis and Laguna exchanged bewildered looks as Seifer stood up, sending Selphie a look that could kill, and allowed himself to be pulled to the dance floor by a now delighted Selphie.

When they were gone, Laguna said, " Well then, may I have this dance, Miss Trepe?" Quistis nodded, and standing, they headed to the dance floor.

" By the time we get back tomorrow I'm going to have a bruise the size of your foot on my leg." Seifer said to Selphie, glaring down at her. Selphie was so short despite the heels, and he was so tall that they made a pretty amusing sight. 

" Well, you deserve it. Imagine if Laguna had actually heard you call Squall that!" Selphie replied, sending him a condescending look. 

" Speaking of which, did the _commander_ get a part?"

" Oh, so now you're interested in the musical? Well, since you really want to know, and I'm dying to tell… Squall is going to play the Argentinean, Rinoa is Nine, Nida is Zidler, Zell is Toulousse-."

" Wait a minute, the chicken-wuss is playing the dwarf?" Seifer asked, cutting her off with a laugh. " Figures, he could double for a dwarf." He snickered. Oh, it was too funny.

Selphie took one hand off his shoulder and swatted his chest. " Stop it, he's got a great voice and we needed a tenor for Toulousse." Selphie paused, unable to stop the smile that came to her face as Seifer continued to grin down at her. " Well, all right, I suppose height did have something to do with it, but don't you dare tell!" Selphie admitted, sending Seifer into a fit of laughter. Soon Selphie was giggling as well, and their mirth began to attract attention.

Intrigued by the rich laughter and the merry giggles she heard coming from somewhere on the dance floor, Quistis looked around to have her gaze light on Selphie and Seifer. She had to blink a couple of times to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but when she finally came to the conclusion that her eyes were fine, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Seifer, laughing? And not because of a cruel joke? That only happened on rare occasions, as far as she could remember. Laguna followed her gaze.

" I guess that doesn't happen every day, huh?" He remarked, and Quistis nodded.

" But I'm not surprised that it was Selphie who caused him too. She was the first one to forgive him and to try to be his friend. Granted he thought she was annoying, but he's probably gotten used to it by now."

" I see." Laguna said, though he really didn't. He'd always figured that Quistis and Seifer would get together, after he'd returned, not Selphie and Seifer. As far as he knew, Selphie was with the cowboy, Irvine. He looked on as Quistis continued to watch the pair until the song ended, and the four returned to the table. For a while longer they, except for Seifer, entertained idle conversation, and had a few glasses of wine.

Seifer just sat back and relaxed as his thoughts and gaze strayed to the instructor. She'd been surprisingly nice to him tonight, he figured it was the fact that she was all dressed up-dressed to kill- making it harder for him to insult her as he normally would. Strangely, his more hurtful comments had sunk down a level to simple sexual implications. Not that those hadn't caused annoyance as well, but if he really wanted to get under her skin, see how deep the calm, reserved ice queens feelings were, he'd have to try harder. It was easier when she was being cruel in return, but today she wasn't, not really. It bothered him. He knew she still despised him, and the fact that she was hiding it annoyed him. He hated it when a person didn't express their true feelings, he hated the masks of politeness.

Idly he wondered if she'd slap him should he suddenly kiss her. That would get a rise out of her, definitely. She looked d**n good tonight, he had to admit. When he had first seen her he'd been completely taken aback. She hadn't looked the role of a stuffy instructor. He sighed and swirled his wine around in his glass. It was a lot easier to dislike her in her normal pink outfit and while she was telling him he was a failure. Actually, that wasn't quite true. She hadn't called him a failure since he'd returned. But still, her contempt for him had shone all around her, and at the auditions, the fear in her eyes. He'd seen that, and as much as he could deny it, it hurt. It had made him angry, hurt equaled anger with him.

" Seifer!" Selphie suddenly yelled, and he looked over at her, startled. " I've been trying to get your attention for-EVER. We're gonna try and see if the musicians up there will let you sing something." Selphie told him, looking very excited. They were currently on break.

" What? H**l no!" Sure, he'd sing for Garden, but in front of a bunch of rich snobs?

" What, scared?" Quistis asked him sweetly. He scowled at her.

" Here's an idea, you sing instead." Seifer replied, and she shook her head.

" They already asked, and I said no."

" So, what, I'm a last resort? That settles it, I'm not playing second fiddle to the instructor." Seifer announced, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. Selphie began to pout, and then Laguna whispered something in her ear and she grinned, then hastily excused herself.

" What was that about?" Seifer asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

" Relax. Selphie's given up on bugging you about singing." Laguna told him. It was the truth, in a literal sense. But Seifer did not relax, and his suspicions proved correct when the room went dark and a huge spotlight was turned directly on him.

" What the h**l." He groaned, glaring at Laguna. Quistis began to smile as realization dawned.

" It seems we have a talented singer in the audience. Give it up for Seifer Almasy!" The announcer said, and immediately the people at the surrounding tables began to clap. Seifer swore. " Well, are you coming or not?" Selphie asked, from the stage, hands on her hips. With a sigh of resignation, Seifer stood, pushing his chair back in rather roughly, and made his way to the stage amidst the clapping and whistles from a few single women. 

__

Do these people know who I am? Seifer wondered, as Selphie handed him a microphone. He looked at her as if to say, what do I do now? " Pick a song, Seifer, they know all sorts of stuff." She told him, and then left him to go back to the table.

" How did you do it?" Quistis asked Selphie, once she was seated.

She grinned. " Laguna said to tell them he had requested it personally, as president, and it just went from there." Quistis opened her mouth to say more but abruptly the music started. It seemed Seifer had chosen a song.

****

Seifer:

Never made it as a wise man, (Quistis recognized the song immediately)  
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'   
Tired of livin' like a blind man   
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feelin   
And this is how you remind me (During this part he looks directly at her, and she cansee the anger in his eyes)  
This is how you remind me   
Of what I really am   
This is how you remind me   
Of what I really am   
It's not like you to say sorry   
I was waiting on a different story   
This time I'm mistaken   
For handing you a heart worth breakin'   
I've been wrong, I've been down   
Been to the bottom of every bottle   
These five words in my head   
Scream "Are we having fun yet?"   
Yet?, Yet?, Yet?, no no 

It's not like you didn't know that   
said I love you and I swear I still do (She had expected him to look away at theselines, but he held her gaze)  
It must have been so bad   
Cause livin' with me must have damn near killed you (She could have sworn there was asmirk on his face.)

This is how you remind me   
Of what I really am   
This is how you remind me   
Of what I really am   
It's not like you to say sorry   
I was waiting on a different story   
This time I'm mistaken   
For handing you a heart worth breakin'   
I've been wrong, I've been down   
Been to the bottom of every bottle   
These five words in my head   
Scream "Are we having fun yet?"   
Yet?, Yet?, Yet?, no no 

Never made is as a wise man   
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing   
And this is how you remind me   
This is how you remind me 

This is how you remind me   
Of what I really am   
This is how you remind me   
Of what I really am   
It's not like you to say sorry   
I was waiting on a different story   
This time I'm mistaken   
For handing you a heart worth breakin'   
I've been wrong, I've been down   
Been to the bottom of every bottle   
These five words in my head   
Scream "Are we having fun yet?"   
Yet?, Yet?, Yet?, no no 

It was the end of the song, and as the last strands faded away, only then could she breathe. Was there some purpose in singing that song? Some hidden meaning behind it? And to sing it directly to her…What was Seifer trying to do? Quistis rubbed the coldness from her arms as Selphie and Laguna clapped along with the rest of the whistling audience. Seifer came back to his seat, glaring despite the applause. Quistis dared not ask if there was some hidden intent to that song, and instead took a long swig of wine.

" It wasn't that bad, was it Seifer?" Selphie asked, giggling.

" I'm changing all of my locks." He replied, copying Quistis as his wineglass emptied. 

" You have a talent that is well worth showing people, Seifer. I'm doing this as a friend." 

" What, torture as a friend?" Seifer did not miss the fact that Selphie had called him a friend. It was a nice feeling, knowing he had a friend other than Raijin and Fujin, and what surprised him was that it was Selphie of all people. But she had been the first one to forgive him. 

" Better a friend than an enemy, right Quistis?" The table turned to look a Quistis, who was having another bottle of wine brought to the table and another glass poured.

"What? I'm sorry, I'm afraid I wasn't quite paying attention." Seifer raised his eyebrows as Selphie repeated herself. Had the song really affected her that much? He thought it would annoy her at most, maybe make her a little bit guilty for the partial truths it held, but anything more was not expected. She was a bit flushed, maybe getting drunk. She looked pretty sexy…What the h*ll? Seifer shook his head. She was his instructor, da**it. He's not supposed to be having fuzzy thoughts about a woman who hated him almost as much as he hated himself. 

Her lips were only partly open as she sipped the red wine she had chosen, her cheeks slightly pink, her honey hair a little loosened from it's more fashionable bun. His head was suddenly filled with a vision of himself swiping the contents of the table to the floor and having his way with her on its surface. What the h**l. Alcohol had probably done it to him, though he had only had two glasses, and it would have to undo its effects pronto. Seifer took the bottle away from the president, who had just finished pouring some into his own glass and emptied it into his own. Selphie frowned at him as he downed it, but he didn't care. H**l, he didn't care if he failed his exam at this point. He'd just have to take another one anyway. All he wanted right now was to get a few enticing images out of his mind. 

Seifer thanked Hyne when Laguna finally suggested that they call it a night, and hurried ahead of everyone to the limo. For the entire ride he remained silent, only moving his head in answer to any questions. He caught Quistis studying him with that teacher's glint in her eye that he knew so well, and winked at her, then turned away before he let anything slip. Back at the palace, he shut himself in his room.

" Gee, anyone know what's up with Seifer?" Selphie asked, when the door shut, rather loudly. 

Quistis shrugged and went down to her own room, leaving Selphie to go to hers. "Oh well." Selphie sighed, then began to skip down the hall, shoes in hand.

AN: Sigh. I think we should all go listen to our Moulin Rouge soundtracks and pretend that it is Seifer who is singing. Sigh. He's so HOT! I hope you liked this chapter! Sorry I haven't updated sooner, but I was in a musical and had five hour long rehearsals practically everyday as well as a technical drawing project I had to finish or else get an F for the term. And then just on Friday I had all four wisdom teeth pulled out. But now I'm feeling peachy again and decided to write. Oh yeah, I know some of you mentioned how I'm deviating from the Moulin Rouge thing, but that's only for maybe another chapter more. I need to get something going outside the Moulin Rouge plot to further it. And in answer to other questions, yes, the characters will be following the Moulin Rouge story line loosely later on. I love Seifer. Hey I also said I'd add an excerpt from one of my original stories to this, but the one I want is currently being revamped as I have trashed the first few chapters and am rewriting it. Sayonara!


	7. One Angry Drunk

AN: Hey I don't own anything!
    Quistis was drunk. How did that happen, one would ask? Well, after moving back into her room and getting ready for bed, she quickly had a few glasses of champagne. Laguna had had complimentary champagne sent to there, knowing they were old enough considering the drinking age was eighteen, never wondering who they would possibly drink it with if they each had one. So now Quistis was drunk. Two glasses made her flush, and now she was out of her mind drunk. But of course the thought of Seifer playing opposite her in a very romantic, sexual play was enough to make her want to lose her mind for the night. Besides, she'd never been drunk in her life, so why not tonight be the night to experience? Maybe shed her perfect image, at least in her eyes, for once? But the main point was to forget that Seifer was going to play Christian and the song he had sung.

She was very warm. She stumbled over to the window and stuck her head and arms out it, then promptly vomited. She felt a little better, but a little guilty for whoever would find the bile in the morning. Hazily she found her way to the bathroom sink and washed out her mouth, splashing water on her face. So warm… She decided to go outside to the balcony and let the cool night air wash over her entire body.

It took her twenty minutes to get there, it normally being a five minute trip, getting lost a few times thought from her room it was just straight down. She'd gotten turned around a few times after collapsing to the ground and laughing hysterically for a while, and the dizziness didn't help. At the balcony she saw that she would not be alone. Seifer was there. She sighed in annoyance then giggled. 

" You should probably stay away from the alcohol, Trepe." He said, without bothering to turn around.

" Oh really? Why should I?" Quistis went to the railing, after tripping over her feet a couple of times and leaned over it, stretching out her arms. She lost her balance suddenly and nearly toppled over the edge, if it hadn't been for a strong hand clamping her arm and pulling her back.

" That's why." Seifer grunted, releasing her. Quistis rubbed her arms and pouted.

" Now I'm gonna have bruises."

" Better that than a broken neck." He was silent for a moment then turned to face her. " Look Instructor, how about you just go back to your room?"

Quistis frowned, trying to pick out the right Seifer. But hey, three were good. Thrice the hottie! From the three spinning Seifers it looked as though he had thrown on his trench over a pair of black pajama pants and a white T-shirt, barely caring to wear his boots, which were not laced. The muscles of his chest were evident underneath the shirt and Quistis found herself staring at him giggling.

" Hey Seifer, did I ever tell you that you're really hot?" She said, his previous question forgotten.

Seifer did a double-take. She was definitely drunk. " Go back to your room instructor." He turned back away from her, looking out at Esthar, all lit up at night.

She pouted again, hands on her hips. " What, you don't want to talk to me?"

Seifer glanced at her edgewise. Her golden hair had been let loose and was spilled around her shoulders-she had cut it a few months ago- and she looked her age in a pair of drawstring pants and a tank. Her mouth was a dark pink, full and currently in a pout, and Seifer was half tempted to kiss her, just to piss her off. He also couldn't deny the fact that he wanted to. But hey, he was a guy, and what guy wouldn't want to kiss a very attractive woman? But then again, this was the instructor that hated him, who had failed him and kept him from becoming a SeeD, and had not forgiven him. D**n her forgiveness anyway. He didn't need it.

"Well?" Quistis asked, then suddenly threw up over the balcony edge. All thoughts of kissing her ran out of Seifer's mind at that point.

" If you want to talk, why don't you call up puberty-boy? I'm sure he'd love to chat." Seifer had heard all about Squall telling her to talk to a wall from a couple of gossipy SeeDs. Quistis wiped her mouth and ignored the jibe meant for her saying, " It's not nice to call people names."

" That's never stopped me before." Seifer replied, looking away.

" I know that first hand. Mediocre instructor indeed! You know, that hurt Seifer." Quistis guessed that being drunk allowed her to actually voice her thoughts and feelings. She would never have dared to say anything like that to him before.

Seifer ignored her, hoping she would go away. Yes, he had called her that, but at this point he didn't care.

" Don't you care that you've hurt so many people?"

Yes, he did, but he would never tell her that.

" All of your friends…"

The nightmares would never stop.

" You're just a big meanie for not answering me!" Quistis paused, then giggled. " Now I sound like Rinoa. You remember Rinoa, the girl you sacrificed to the Sorceress Adel?" Seifer turned to look at her sharply. " I see I've got your attention now." Quistis laughed. It felt good to see his pain, to hurt him like he hurt her. She wanted to see him suffer, see his torment. He was a monster. For what he did to her…

" Instructor, I suggest you leave now." Seifer's voice was quiet, controlled, his head turned away from her once more. This made Quistis even angrier then she already was.

" Or what? You'll kill me? Or at least try? Figures. You tried before. I guess we're lucky you're such a failure. Your bark was worse than your bite in the end." She looked down at Seifer's hands, which were clutching the metal railing, the knuckles white, then up at his eyes to see the agony there. " Awww, what, the demon has feelings? So do we. I'll never forgive you Almasy. You're a heartless monster who should never have made SeeD, or even been excepted back at Garden. You'll always be the ruthless killer we've grown to despise." Quistis paused, enjoying her moment of torture, as Seifer remained motionless, his eyes no longer showing his pain. But Quistis knew he had put a wall up around his emotions like always and was still confident he was suffering. " But I guess what it really all comes down to is that you're still a _mangy, sorceress's, lapdog_!" She said the last few words with such seething spite that when he turned around suddenly she flinched, fully expecting him to hit her. But he didn't. He merely walked away from her and back into the building, his tall form towering over her for a brief moment. Was it raining? She touched her cheek and found it wet. She couldn't be crying… She had tormented Seifer, bringing herself a little justice, and she was crying? She decided they were tears of joy. It was then that she threw up again.

* * *
    
    During the ride back to Balamb everything was strangely quiet. Selphie seemed tired, and very subdued, which was pretty out of character for her, and Seifer had not said a word the entire morning. Quistis was pretty quiet herself, resting her eyes and head to relax the pounding. She didn't remember how many drinks she had had, or what time she had gone to bed, or anything from the previous night. All she knew was that she had tried to drown all of her thoughts through alcohol and had woken up with an awful headache, and the Tylenol she had taken had not kicked in yet. 

She hoped she was feeling better by the time she was scheduled to see Squall. She had to give her report on the mission and on Seifer. Seifer. He was acting very moody, hadn't said a word. After dinner last night he had shut himself in his room without saying anything, and now today he was extremely quiet. Well, she wouldn't bother him. What did she care anyway? She continued to stare at his back however, noting the bunched shoulders and the tension in the muscles. Then, as if he knew she was staring, looked back around at her and glared.

" Knock it off Trepe." He said gruffly, then went back to his original position. She kept her eyes away from him for the rest of the ride.

Back in Squall's office, her hangover was still as strong as ever as she gave her report. Mission successful, yada yada yada, yes, Seifer proved himself worthy of being a SeeD, blah blah blah. Then…

" Quistis, are you feeling okay?" Squall asked, looking at her quizzically.

" Yeah, she looks like s**t, doesn't she?" Seifer's voice answered coldly, striding into the room. Quistis was about to reply, thoroughly surprised, but he didn't give her the time. " Probably because of the fun she had last night." He added with a sneer, dropping into a chair and putting his feet up. 

Squall frowned as Quistis' mouth fell open in shock. " Were you drunk on your mission?" Squall asked, putting two and two together. Her heart fell down to her stomach with a sickening thud.

" No. I just had a little too much to drink after dinner that night, but not on the mission. What I do in my free time has nothing to do with my job either, Squall." Quistis answered, gathering her courage as she glared at Seifer, who smirked. Squall looked vaguely surprised.

" Very well. You are dismissed." Quistis saluted and left the room as Seifer scowled at her.

" Nice of you to knock Seifer." Squall said, turning his attention to him now.

" Yeah well, I try."

" Quistis has given you high marks for your test, which means you are on your way to being a SeeD. Seeing as you have passed this one, a new test will be given, as well as the written, as soon as the opportunity arises. Should you pass those, you will become a SeeD. The graduation ball will be held off until normal SeeD test is over with, but you will still hold a rank early. Any questions?"

" None." This was true, but Seifer was shocked that Quistis had even passed him after last night. The b***h had stabbed him where it hurt the most, apparently still holding a huge grudge against him. At his answer Squall dismissed him.

He was off to rehearsal now. Selphie was having the entire cast and crew of Moulin Rouge meet to pass out scripts and whatever else. He debated over the idea of not going but decided he didn't want to piss Selphie off and wake up the next morning to find his gun-blade pink. 

* * *
    
    " Hiya everyone! I just want to congratulate you all for an excellent audition and tell you how excited I am about this! It's gonna be super duper mega cool!" There were a few cheers from the rather large cast as Selphie spoke. " While you guys probably know who the leads are, I'll just make sure everyone is clear who they are. You may not even know some of them." Selphie paused to grab a piece of paper. " Alright! Quistis Trepe is Satine," there were a bunch of loud cheers and whistles from the guys, " Seifer Almasy is Christian," there were screams from the girls, " Robert Derthin is the duke," there were a few laughs, " Nida Lucas is Zidler," there was more laughing, " Zell Dincht is Toulousse," a few cheers and laughs, " and Squall Leonhart is the Argentinean." While all of this was going on, the few lesser known people stood up and waved, and Squall walked in just as his name was being said.
    Once everyone had calmed down Selphie and Irvine began handing out schedules and scripts. Seifer noticed to his disgust that he had a vocal rehearsal with Quistis that night. Great, just who he wanted to see. She had started the war between them, destroying the façade she had previously established, and he couldn't say he was happy about it. He should be, now that everything was out in the open, but maybe the mask covering reality had been a good thing. Somehow, he was having a hard time converting his pain to hate and anger, and his soul and mind was now a vicious mix of both. As Seifer returned to his room after barely listening to the rest of what Selphie had to say, he had to face the truth of the matter. He had deserved every single word.

AN: Hey all! Sorry if the drunken part isn't correct cause I have never been drunk and don't really know. Quistis is really mean in this chapter, isn't she? And why is she so mad at Seifer? Well think about this, occurring in later chapters: She's been cutting down on the use of the guardian forces, and her memories are starting to resurface. Well that's it for the previews. I just wanted to say that these chapters will be pretty confusing because the introspective on Seifer is not deep, but I'm trying to make him like he is, not very willing to express his feelings. But don't worry, because there will be a chapter coming up all about his pain. Poor baby…Tootles! 


	8. Seifer is Cool 'cause i say so

AN: Hey everyone, long time no see! Well, between ff.net going haywire and me working on my original story, which shall be very exciting and romantic, I hope, I did not have the time or opportunity to update. But I am back, and I hope this chapter will have been worth the wait for you all.Just so you know, any references to non-straight personnel is not meant to be insulting to any such person, but Seifer does use it as an excuse to why someone wouldn't be attracted to Quistis. I have a different Seiftis up, with the first chapter actually taking place in the middle of the story, with the beginning being kind of a flashback, so the second chapter will actually be the beginning. Please check it out and review! It's called Generation 1: A child's destiny. Basically, Quistis wakes up 9 months pregnant and Seifer claims to be father. Hehe. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! snort heh.

Quistis still had a headache, but it was going away, which would have been fine, had it not been about to get worse. She had just returned to the quad after dinner for rehearsal, a rehearsal with Seifer. Behold her joy. Something was up with him and she wasn't in the mood to figure out what it was.

Seifer was already there when she arrived, and so was their vocal instructor. The woman didn't appear to be that old, maybe her late twenties, and looked as though she thought a lot of herself. She was wearing a ton of makeup and the tightest pair of jeans Quistis had ever seen. And she was flirting with her student. Quistis rolled her eyes but threw on a smile as she approached them, a smile that hid the strange feeling that had erupted in her stomach. 

Seifer said nothing, his smile for the woman changing to a glare for Quistis as their instructor spoke. "You must be Quistis." The woman gave her disdaining look and Quistis thought, _Oh great_. She should have known. "I'm Eline, and I'm your vocal instructor." Eline continued.

Quistis nodded, as in duh, and Eline moved to the piano and struck a chord. "We'll warm up first, and then I thought we'd start with _Your Song_. I'm anxious to hear Seifer sing." She smiled at Seifer, looking more seductive than eager, and Seifer smiled right back. Quistis couldn't help rolling her eyes again and tried to ignore their flirting as she warmed up.

The rehearsal went worse than she had expected. Eline breezed through Quistis' songs and parts, and spent most of the time ogling Seifer and sighing dreamily as he sang. He also made it a point to make it look like he was singing to her, and the only time Eline's eyes left his were when she would glare at Quistis, as if to say, go away. Quistis would definitely talk to Selphie about this so-called vocal instructor later on, wherever Selphie was.

"Well, that went well. You have an amazing voice Seifer." Eline said, at the end, looping her arm around Seifer's. Quistis' eyes were never going to stop rolling. But while Eline was busy drooling over Seifer, she booked it out of there and searched for Selphie, finding her in the library talking to Amia. She politely pulled her away for a private conversation.

"What's up Quistis? How was rehearsal?"

"Not so good Selphie." She quickly relayed what had happened. When she finished, Selphie frowned. 

"Well we can't have _that_. I'll just have to find someone else. I'll look into it, okay?" Quistis nodded and Selphie grinned. "Good." Quistis was glad to have Selphie as a friend. "Oh yeah! I just heard from Squall that Ellone is coming down from Winhill to visit in a few days. She'll be here tomorrow I think."

"Really?" Now that was some good news.

"Yup. If you see Zell or Irvine before I do would you let them know?" Quistis agreed and Selphie skipped off happily.

* * *

Seifer strolled down Balamb's dormitory halls with a satisfied smile on his face. The rehearsal had gone better than expected; their bimbo instructor had made life h*ll for Trepe, which negated any annoyances on his part. Some girls tried way too hard to look pretty. He would rather have a girl straight out of bed, hair unruly, cheeks flushed from a warm sleep, or maybe in bed... A vision of Trepe before she had accosted him flashed through his mind and he shook it out hastily. He would admit that he was attracted to her, Hyne knows who wouldn't be, except for Squall, but he was probably gay anyway. Every other thing about her put him off though, the top spot on his list being her undying hatred for him. The smile left his face and was replaced by a scowl as he came face to face with Tom Etsing as he rounded the corner.

"Hey Seifer! I heard about the musical, congratulations!" Tom said, completely serious. Seifer blinked then recovered.

"I heard you're going out with the Ice Queen." Seifer replied, before he knew the words were out.

Tom looked confused. "What? Oh, you mean Quistis?" Seifer merely glared. "That's not a very gentlemanly thing to say Seifer."

"Well I don't think you're out to do anything very knightly either." Seifer replied in annoyance.

"What do you mean by that?" Tom was once again baffled.

"Quit playing games…" Seifer hissed angrily, then added, "_Reaper_."

"_What_?"

Seifer glared at him in aggravation then replied, "Tch, fine. What do I care?" He left Tom in a state of, once again, confusion, only slightly annoyed with the fact that he had sounded like the Chicken-wuss. 

In his room he debated whether or not, while staring at the phone, to tell puberty-boy about Etsing, which led to a debate about whether he cared or not, to which the answer was no. 

"Well, now that that's settled." Seifer picked up the phone and dialed Raijin's room. He hadn't talked to him or Fujin for a couple of days, and he needed to make a few lists.

* * *

"You're doing WHAT?"

Selphie and Squall were trying to explain to the not so happy Cid that they were performing Moulin Rouge instead of doing the Garden Festival. Edea looked excited, once told, for it just so happened to be one of her favorite movies, but Cid obviously was not so.

"It's really not that bad though Headmaster, and we're going to put an age restriction so that the little kids can't see it." Selphie told him, making faces at Squall so that he would step in. But Squall looked happy being silent.

"But Selphie, the kids _were_ looking forward to seeing a musical." Edea told her kindly, and Selphie felt a guilt that could only come from disappointing one's mother. Edea had a whole new set of kids at the fixed-up orphanage, where Cid had been while Selphie had orchestrated the whole Moulin Rouge thing.

"So then we'll do a musical just for the kids as well."

Selphie's mouth fell open in shock but then she began jumping up and down at Squall's idea. "BOOYAKA! That's perfect! We can do a fairy tale, low budget of course, just for the kids! We'll have to do it before Moulin Rouge gets into full swing though. But we can pull it off! Maybe Rupunzel?" Selphie looked thoughtful, Edea pleased, Squall stoic, and Cid flustered.

"That's not really the point Selphie. There are certain scenes in it that I don't think the students would feel comfortable performing."

"We can cut certain, non-essential things out, and I highly doubt the leads will have any problem with it. Well, at least one." Squall solved (the problem that is), and Selphie clapped her hands in delight.

"Who are the leads anyway?" Edea asked curiously.

"Seifer and Quistis!"

"Seifer and Quistis?" Cid and Edea repeated in unison. Selphie nodded excitedly.

"They both have mega cool voices and they're perfect for the roles!"

"Seifer isn't afraid to do anything and Quistis can take whatever he, or anyone else, can dish out." Squall added, and Edea and Cid exchanged looks.

"I think it'll be great." Edea said pointedly to her husband, and he nodded. Selphie nearly suffocated her in a hug. So now _that_ was settled.

* * *

Seifer woke up to the sound of someone pounding on his door in the middle of the night.

"What the h*ll is this?!" He growled, then swallowed finding his throat strangely hoarse. He slid out of bed and found his way to the door, tripping over his shoes on the way there and nearly crashing through it. Turning on the light hadn't even crossed through his mind, but hey, it was three in the morning.

He opened the door to reveal Squall, dressed in his T-shirt and flannel pants, and Selphie in a cute little yellow nightgown. "What the h*ll do you people want?!"

"Are you okay? It sounded like someone was getting murdered in here…" Selphie said, peering into his darkened room.

"What are you talking about? And what's with all the banging?"

"I only had to knock that loud to be heard over the screams, seeing as Selphie had to be helpful and dropped the key to your room down a vent."

"By accident!"

"What screaming?" Seifer asked, confused. Selphie and Squall exchanged looks.

"I was called to the office because they'd been receiving complaints that someone from this room was screaming their head off. Naturally Selphie had to come along."

"Well I wasn't screaming. I was asleep until you woke me up."

"Your throat seems awful hoarse though Seifer. Are you sure you weren't having a nightmare?" Selphie asked carefully, and Seifer glared at her.

"What is there for me to be frightened of?"

"That's a good question Seifer. But whatever it is you'd better get over it fast because we obviously don't want this happening again."

Seifer scowled. "Is that it? Because I'd like to go back to bed."

Squall nodded and Seifer started to close the door, but then Selphie stuck her foot in. "Wait!"

"Do you realize what time it is shrimp?"

Selphie stuck out her tongue at him. "We're gonna be putting on another play for little kids but we need to raise money for all of it because it's gonna be expensive, so I thought that maybe you and Quistis could go sing in Esthar for donations."

"Yeah sure whatever."

"Great! Good night!" Selphie went off down the hallway and Seifer shut the door, but not before glaring at the few students who were peeking out of their rooms.

Nightmares, huh? Sometimes he remembered them, but other times he was able to block them out. He knew he had had them though, when he would wake up twisted in sweaty sheets. He went to the window and looked out at the night. Usually there was just blood…Waves of it crashing through the streets, pouring from his own two hands.

So much blood…And it was all on his hands. He didn't even know why he bothered to keep living. But he did know that Matron had told him to never lose hope in his dreams, even when the world was at its worst. All he had wanted was to be someone's knight, to protect a woman he cared for. That chance had come when Edea had appeared before him in Timber. He had never thought it would lead to so much pain. She had taken control of his body, and not before long his mind. He had been her toy. They had said it wasn't his fault, but it was. He had gone with her, and fought Squall for the first time by his own free will. Everything else had been Ultimecia controlling him. But what had scared him the most was that he had enjoyed it. He had enjoyed the power, the revenge. It had been his fault in the first place that had given him then need for revenge. Seifer closed his eyes. All he had wanted, was to be a knight.

* * *

AN: Thank you guys for such great reviews! hugs all

Hey, I was wondering if anyone would like to proofread my stories for me. I've been going through them and noticing a lot of typos, so it'd be great if someone would do me that favor. I'd email them the chapter beforehand obviously and you can be my critic and corrector. Any takers? I'd really appreciate it. That goes for my original story too. Just let me know in a review. Please review…puppy dog eyes Hey, anyone known any guys that looks the least bit like Seifer? If so, tell them I said, and did, drool. OOOOOH YEAH! BOOYAKA! Anyone who doesn't want to know what my original work is about or just doesn't care, don't read on. 

Okay, for those of you who are still with me, here is what my original story is about. There are seven sages, and seven demons. There are also these two bloodknights, as I call them right now, who can pull swords from their chests and are kind of like a mix between vampire slayers and jedi. One is an American girl named Aya, and the other is a guy from Japan named Hiro. Well they are called by the seven angels, or sages, to defeat Edonicus, the big bad, and his six assassins/demons. They get some help from Liam, an Irish sage who is going to be kick @$$, and Samantha, who is Aya's best friend and her emotional support basically. I could tell you more, but then I'd spoil all of the cool fight scenes, romantic interludes, angst, and of course, plot. If you want to read it, just say yay(yes) or nay(no) in your review. Please review! You made it this far so the least you can do is review! Until I update again, Sayonara and check out my other stories!


	9. Kiss on the Nose

AN: A really short note from me for once! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I know you guys wanted more Zelphie, so here it is! Sorry Seiftis fans, not much for you here, but just wait.

Selphie found a new vocal instructor by the end of the week. Rehearsals were much more pleasant after that, aside from the fact that Seifer was being crueler towards Quistis than usual, his normal jibes turning into vicious remarks. She had nearly burst into tears several times had it not been for Tom. He was very sweet-their date had gone well-and now they were barely seen without the company of each other. Ellone had come and they had had a small party, and Quistis was mainly focusing on learning lines and blocking. Thankfully, Selphie had seen it fit to not have too much contact between the two leads during the rehearsals, but right now she was getting a little pissed off at them both.

"Look, I've been letting you two off easy in the past two weeks but now it's time for you both to grow up! I'm trying to run two plays at once here and the two of you are not making it any easier for me! I don't care what the problem is just get over it and do what I say!"

Seifer lifted an eyebrow as Quistis blinked.

"Ten minute break people!" Selphie continued, and at once the entire quad was cleared of people fearing Selphie's wrath. The hyper active girl had never, ever, blown up like that before. Where exactly they had all gone, no one knew.

Selphie also stomped off, leaving the quad, leaving Quistis and Seifer staring after her. After she was out of sight Quistis turned to Seifer, eyes flashing with anger. She was completely fed up with him, and she couldn't take it anymore.

"What the @#$% is your problem?!" She yelled, and he looked momentarily taken aback by her choice of words. Quistis had never said that word before, and he didn't even think she knew it existed. He recovered fast.

"My problem?!" He gave her an incredulous look, then "You don't remember, do you?"

Quistis looked visibly confused. "Remember what?"

He gave a hoarse laugh. "What the hell Trepe! You really _did_ have too much to drink that night!"

Her eyes became wide and panicked as a horrible thought entered her mind. "We didn't….?"

"Please!" He scoffed, "Me, with the ice queen?"

Quistis looked relieved and for a fraction of a second Seifer's ego deflated slightly. Then she glared at him. "So if we didn't sleep together what is it then that's making you act like more of an a**hole than you already are?!"

"That made no sense, instructor."

"What?"

"Anyway, you want to know what my problem is?" He sneered, taking a step towards her so that he towered over her slim form.

She glared up at him, unmoving. She wouldn't let him use his size to dominate over her. "What's your problem Seifer," she asked in a monotone voice very similar to Squall's. 

He smirked at her. "Figure it out. Try to remember." He stepped away from her and folded his arms across his chest.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" She asked, annoyed.

"Since when am I in charge of your memory?"

"You could just tell me, considering whatever it was that I did is bothering you so much."

Seifer was sick of the whole situation. "Tell you what, you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone."

"WHAT?!" Quistis yelled, outraged. "I haven't done anything to you!" She paused. "At least that I'm aware of."

His eyes darkened. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine!" Quistis snapped, though the deal didn't make much sense. "But I'm only doing it for the sake of the musical," she added, still glaring at him.

"Is there any other reason that I would agree to it?" Seifer asked, causing her glare to deepen.

Quistis didn't know what to say to that, and with one last look of disgust she walked off the stage and took a seat. Everyone should be back soon. Where had they all gone, anyway?

* * *

Selphie was singing merrily at a table in the cafeteria. "La la la la la la la la!" 

She had said that the break would only be ten minutes, and she fully expected that everyone would be returning to the Quad soon for rehearsal, but she would not be joining them. No one else was in the cafeteria except for the lunch ladies, and she sat there singing to herself. She hadn't gone crazy, no not all; she was just a little stressed out. She had two plays to run, and the leads of one of them were at each other's throats. Well not so much Quistis, but she gave back as good as she got.

Ten minutes had gone by, but still Selphie remained in the cafeteria, her singing getting louder. "La la la la la la la la lalalalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaa!"

Five more minutes passed.

Selphie was doing a jig on top of the table, and the cafeteria ladies didn't dare say anything to her because they were too frightened. It was at this point that she was paged on the intercom, asking her to go to the quad. She did not go, and instead she got off the table and got a couple of hotdogs and then returned to her table, eating one hotdog while dancing with the other. 

Another five minutes went by, and she was still dancing on the table. Squall walked in then, looking for her, as he was unlucky enough to be nominated to find her. He took one look at her before swiftly backing out of the room. 

A few minutes later Zell and Irvine walked in. Irvine raised an eyebrow and Zell's eyes welled up with tears. 

"Hotdogs!" He yelled, but before he could reach Selphie she had swallowed her dancing partner in two large bites. She hopped off the table. 

"Sorry Zell, but I don't think you'd have wanted it anyway. It's been dancing with me, tee hee!" She giggled at him as his head and shoulders slumped over in defeat. "Those were the last ones, too."

He sighed. "Couldn't you have brought me one?"

"I was too busy dancing!" She said excitedly.

"Why were you dancing on the table, Sefie?" Irvine asked, walking over slowly.

"'Cause it's fun!" She answered, nodding her head profusely. After a second she stopped nodding and held her head. "Whoa, woozy-ness!"

"Is it really that fun?" Zell asked, looking curiously back and forth between Selphie and the table.

A smile slowly crept across Irvine's face. "Hey Sefie, why doncha dance some more for me?"

For one brief second Selphie looked excited, but then she put her hands on her hips and made face at him that was a cross between a glare and a pout. "No way. I know what you're thinking Irvy!"

He looked surprised. "You do?"

"Well, no, but I'm sure it's not good whatever it is!" Selphie replied, and she glared at him some more while Zell looked at the two, completely confused.

After a moment of trying to win her over by smiling charmingly at her, Irvine finally said, "Don't you think you should be at rehearsal?"

Selphie smiled slyly. "Maaaaybeeee!"

Irvine lifted an eyebrow. What was up with her? The plays meant everything to her, just like the Garden Festival. He glanced at Zell who shrugged in return. 

"But first," Selphie began, giggling, "Tag, you're it!" She lunged at Zell, smacked his shoulder, and ran off. Before Irvine could say anything at all, Zell was already chasing after her and out the door. He sighed. Zell was pretty d### lucky.

* * *

When Irvine entered the Quad moments later, all heads turned toward him. Where was Selphie? Everyone wanted to know. Squall and Quistis reached him first. 

"Where's Selphie? And Zell?" Quistis asked, noticing that Zell had not returned with him.

Irvine chuckled. "They're playing tag."

"Tag?" Squall repeated, frowning.

"I have no explanation for it," Irvine replied, adjusting his hat with a sigh.

Quistis smiled, seemingly feeling much better after her argument with Seifer. "I think it's cute," she said, causing the two males to look at her in confusion. "Selphie likes Zell," she explained, "and I think he likes her too."

This short explanation left both men looking shocked. "Well they're both single, and as much as I like Amia, she hasn't made a move on Zell, and you never managed to get Selphie to go out with you," Quistis added, poking Irvine in the chest.

"That's not what we were thinking," Irvine replied. "We're fine with that, I mean, I've kind of given up on Selphie ever liking me as much as I like her, and I have noticed the extra attention she gives him." Squall nodded in agreement.

"Then why are you two looking so shocked?" Quistis asked. It was her turned to be confused.

"Because," Squall answered, "we were thinking, _what will the kids be like_?" He and Irvine both shuddered and Quistis burst into laugher. Meanwhile…

Selphie was running out of breath. Zell had caught her, tagged her back, and then taken off, and she had been chasing after him all over Garden. She wouldn't have been so out of breath if she hadn't been laughing at the same time. It was funny how Zell managed to trip over people but still maintain his speed. They hadn't been yelled at either; which was most likely because the disciplinary committee was at rehearsal, like they should be at the moment.

Selphie suddenly stopped running and darted behind a conveniently placed plant. Zell continued to run around the center circle, thinking Selphie was still chasing him. He got confused when he gave a quick look behind him and she wasn't there, and he slowed to a walk as he passed by the library. That was when Selphie jumped out from behind him and tackled him to the ground.

"WHOO HOO!" She shouted victoriously, holding onto his legs.

"Ugh…" Zell grumbled, rubbing his nose as he sat up. He had smacked it hard on the floor when he had fallen.

"Do ya give up?" Selphie asked, releasing him. She sat on her knees beside him, watching him.

"I give up," he said, and Selphie looked disappointed at first. 

But then, "Booyaka!" She threw her hands into the air. Noticing Zell wasn't sharing her excitement she looked at him curiously, "Are you okay?" He was still rubbing his nose.

"Yeah. I just kind of banged my nose on the floor when you tackled me."

"Oooooh. I'm sorry," she said, and she smiled at him as his hand finally left his nose. They were still sitting on the floor. Then Selphie did something that completely caught Zell by surprise. Selphie lunged forward and planted a kiss on his nose. "All better!" She proclaimed, then ran off to the Quad. Zell sat there for a few minutes, completely stunned. And then he grinned goofily, stood up, and walked after her. He would never wash his nose again.

AN: I've decided I don't much like this fic, because it could have been written much better if I had really taken the time to do so. I'm gonna try to make it better from now on, if everyone still wants me to continue it. Let me know! Hope ya liked the Zelphie! I did my best…. Sigh. REVIEW!


	10. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Hey guys. It's been forever and a day since I've taken a look at this fic. A lot has happened with my life, of course, and I just stopped writing fanfiction.

But the other day I was listening to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and remembered this old fic. So I went back to it to check it out.

I still like the concept, but I really thought that the writing could use some work. The only problem is that I have a million other projects going on. I'm working on my novel, which is called 'The Red' and is a fantasy/drama/romance with dragons, faeries and other assorted creatures. I also aim to make an rpg using flash, which I'm developing the story for.

However, I thought that editing this story, and continuing it, would be great practice.

So, expect to see each of these chapters newly redone, and if everyone still wants to read more I'll update it and finish it as well. Right now, chapter one is newly revised.

Please check it out!

And thanks for all the reviews and patience!

:)


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